“Nah, that’s okay. I don’t want to bother anybody.” I’ve always been shy about special treatment, but the 24-year-old from Latham, New York, isn’t having any of it. He bounds off across the soft sand of the inner beach, and I scuffle along behind him somewhat hesitantly, reminding myself that, if I go, I can take you, dear reader, along with me!

Al, who is in the middle of a conversation, wrinkles his brow and his thick, sandy mustache cocks thoughtfully. “I’ll take him,” Dave offers.

“Sure,” Al decides, and as we jog off toward the pits between the track and the boardwalk, follows with, “Just don’t break it!”

Of course Dave has every intention of treating Al’s racer with the utmost respect and care, but I do feel better knowing that, even if we accidentally damage it, Dave—who built from scratch an Eleanor Mustang clone now exhibited in the Saratoga Automobile Museum—is very capable of fixing it.

Dave Singleton—my driver for the race.

Al’s black Model A Ford roadster pickup is at the far end of the first row in the pits, its white, brush-painted block “00” awash with a splattering of mud. Placing my hand on the top of the half door, the chrome latch post slips between my index and middle fingers and popping it forward, I pull the door open.

Operating the latch on the A seems to come naturally, but I’m embarrassed to admit that, though my dad and I have been building a Model A-based speedster for the better part of three years, I’ve never actually sat inside one, let alone gone for a ride.

Al Clarke of Go Devil Garage in East Schodack, New York, and his V-8 flathead-powered Model A roadster pickup—our ride.

Dave swaps his newsboy cap for a helmet, turns the key in the patinated center panel to the “on” position, wedges his toe in tight next to the gas pedal and pushes in the starter.

Though the pickup looks fairly stock—save for its whimsical radiator topper made from an old water spigot with a cross handle—the engine shrouded within the hood is a ’46 Ford V-8 with Edelbrock heads and twin Stromberg 97s. It explodes into life, but then shudders and goes quiet.

Dave reaches under the dash, “Al must’ve turned off the fuel.” Then—to make his operation of the tightly arranged pedals more certain—he unties his right boot, pulls it off, pushes his socked foot down on the starter plunger, and the V-8 once again rumbles, sounding like some old aircraft engine.

The power within our borrowed mount, the ’46 flathead in Al Clarke’s Model A roadster pickup.

He shifts into reverse, and we back out into the pit lane. “Now,” Dave explains, “We have to find someone to call out.”

“Call out?”

“Yeah. To race.” Dave blips the throttle and we roll along the soft sand between the parked coupes, roadsters, sedans, speedsters and specials. There is something so pure about this, so simple, elemental. We want to test our machine, to prove ourselves, and to do that, we need an adversary.

“Him.” Dave points to a man draped in a long, dark brown waxed-cotton trench coat, leather World War I flying helmet complete with goggles pulled down over his head, an unlit double-tapered cigar plugged into his mouth. He’s unshaven, and has a mildly crazed look in his eyes.

“He’s a lot of fun,” explains Dave as he leans across the cab of the pickup. “Hey, wanna race?”

“Sure!” returns the man I’ll later learn is Matt Picaro of Cream Ridge, New Jersey, and he shambles off across the pits toward his motorized mount.

Dave gooses the throttle, keeping us rolling, and we head for the bottom end of the beach track, feeling every bit like duelists heading out to the field of battle.

The engine roars and we plow through “the hot zone,” the area where racers entering and exiting the staging lanes must cut a sharp turn through deep, rutted sand on a grade, either getting bogged down or bump-sliding around. Azure sky and the seemingly limitless strand swing into view, replacing the morning sun and searing sea combers.

We had thought it would still be fairly early and had expected to pull in behind a bunch of motorcycles and hot rods beetling toward practice runs. Instead, we come to a stop, and a wide-open beach stretches out to the horizon before us.

“Looks like we might be the first race,” Dave laughs.

Matt Picaro—the driver we’ve chosen as our contender.

“So you’ve done this before?”

As a black ’31 Roadster pulls up on our right, numbered 667, “One up on the devil” scrawled on the side of its cowl, Dave answers, “Nope. First time.”

While our V-8 sounds like it’s powered by an airplane engine from the later half of the First World War, Matt’s sounds deeper, louder, almost as if it’s from the Second, and ours, having settled into an idle, seems to disappear.

Joking out the window, I yell to Matt and his ride-along, “Ours’ is a hybrid! That’s why it’s so quiet!” But probably because his Lakes pipes are bellowing between us, or because he’s just got a zany sense of humor, he waves his cigar around as if he can’t hear me. Watching Matt, Shakespeare’s Hamlet comes to mind: “I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw.” This should be interesting.

Because the track attendants—clad in white coveralls and pith helmets—are still working to string the event banner across the space between the starting pylons, Dave shuts the Model A down to wait.

Normally, I’d be pretty anxious about doing something like that with thousands of people staring at me (what if it won’t start back up?), but now, between Al’s expert craftsmanship and Dave’s automotive skill, I have no doubt that we’ll be able to get the vehicle running again when we need to.

This unexpected pause gives us some time to look around and think, and I soon find myself gazing out through the clear, flat plane of the mud-spattered windshield.

But then, before the hanging of the banner is complete, the bespectacled, tuxedoed and top-hatted staging boss, looking very much like that kind of character in the most bizarre and profound of dreams who is both strange and familiar at the same time, decides he doesn’t want to make us or the crowd wait for our test. He wants us to run now.

Dave turns the key, and just as I knew it would, the flathead fires right up, torqueing down on the right rail as he works the gas pedal. The staging boss waves us around the starting pylons—now Matt’s highboy is on our left—and the V-8s in both the cars are revving and roaring out as the crowd focuses on us.

Flag girl Sara Francello takes her place between us as race organizer Mel Stultz blasts down the beach on his ’38 Harley UL to warn off a land border whose sail is taking him into the run off at the top end of the drag strip.

Mel returns, gives the signal, and Sara points first to us, Dave nods, and then to Matt. Leaping three feet above the beach, Sara pulls down the fluttering flag and Dave mats the gas. All at once, our V-8 thunders and I can feel the sand flying out from under the right wheel as we launch.

We quickly accelerate, leaving Matt behind, as Dave—at just 1/2 to 3/4 throttle—controls the truck as its rear surges left, then right, then left again, casting sand behind us as we bound down the yielding beach, the wind in our face. Matt later tells me that he missed the hole shot because an out-of-place bike had accidentally gotten in his way, and “It was kill the guy on the motorcycle, or win the race.”

Three quarters of the way there, Dave lets off on the throttle to avoid hitting too hard a couple of humps that had developed there, and we pass the finish pylons. Wheeling us hard to the left, he rolls on the throttle once again, throwing out rooster tails of sand to the cheering of the crowd. Matt—who has caught up with us—hooks inside and to the right.

With a couple of blips of the throttle, we have rolled along the shore, back past the starting line, and are heading for the pits.

Days later as I write the story, it’s all still very immediate—the exhilaration, the thrill. It was one of those experiences that teach a person something beyond words.

Even now, I can close my eyes and again the ocean lies along the beach on our left, while, down the right side of the track a quarter of a mile of red wind fence, backed with people, stretches. Black-and-white checkered SCTA-style pylons mark the finish line almost at the point where the land and the sky meet.

In places like this, where your focal point goes out seeking the edge of things, you feel opened; you expand and take everything in, and the “big questions” about life’s purpose and the sense of it all, no longer seem to need to be asked.

Suspended as we are at this precious moment before speed, distance and potential—the brisk sea breeze filling our lungs and the tire tracks winding and streaking off into infinity—this is the most alive that I have felt in a very, very long time.

Fighter pilots have an old saying, “Speed is life.” I suspect that they, as well as those who have sat at the bottom end of a drag strip—certainly those who competed at The Race of Gentlemen last weekend—know exactly what I’m talking about.

It was 1938 when Victor Edelbrock Sr. made his first performance intake manifold, the so-called slingshot, for the 1932 Ford roadster he was racing at Muroc Dry Lakes. It became a resounding success among fellow Ford flathead racers and began the Edelbrock Company that we know today. Seventy-five years later, the same intake manifold is still offered in the current Edelbrock catalog, along with thousands of other performance parts including cylinder heads, camshafts, carburetors and internal engine components.

Most of Edelbrock’s early creations were purpose-built, either for his land-speed racing car or his midget race car, Victor did the machine work and testing himself, most of it on his own 1932 Ford. After the slingshot, he designed modified cast iron “Denver” cylinder heads for the flathead that created higher compression and increased horsepower. After World War II, he designed his first aluminum cylinder head (another design still available in Edelbrock’s current catalog) at his machine shop in Hollywood. The first Edelbrock performance parts catalog was created in 1946, about the same time he dove head first into midget racing. The midgets became his favorite distraction from the business and he often raced several nights a week around Southern California with team drivers such as Roger Ward and Billy Vukovich. Vic Sr.’s 60hp flathead midget was the first car to break the winning streak of the Offenhauser-powered midgets of the late Forties.

To keep up with his R&D, Edelbrock purchased one of the earliest engine dynamometers to test his design ideas. Edelbrock-powered dry lakes racers broke many records, including the first single engine-streamliner to exceed 200 MPH and a Model T roadster, the Edelbrock Special, that set a record at 192 MPH using pistons, cylinder heads and a quad-duece intake manifold all designed in house. The business expanded even further when Edelbrock developed new performance items for the new Chevrolet small-block V-8 in 1955, with the introduction of a triple-carburetor intake, six-carb ram intake log and a cross-ram manifold for the early Chevrolet V-8s.

Vic Sr. died in 1962, but the business continued on in the hands of his son, Vic Edelbrock Jr., and several of Edelbrock’s original team. Today, Edelbrock has expanded to seven facilities located throughout Southern California totaling more than a half-million square feet of warehouse and manufacturing space.

As part of its 75th anniversary celebration, will give away a 2013 Edelbrock E-Force Supercharged Anniversary Edition Ford Mustang at the SEMA convention in Las Vegas in October. To enter the contest, visit Edelbrock’s Facebook page or Edelbrock.com. Vic Jr.’s 1963 Z06 split-window Corvette will also appear as the feature car for the Monterey Historics celebration of the Corvette’s 60th anniversary, which will take place August 16-18.

Not so long ago, supercharging was pure exotica, despite having existed for many decades. Factory applications prior to the ’90s were few, and hadn’t really been seen since the early 1960s. Aftermarket setups were generally expensive, and usually only seen either on serious drag machines or at indoor car shows; rarely would this technology have been seen on the street.

But as the ’80s were drawing to a close, supercharging was starting to make a comeback, and it paired well with then-new electronic fuel injection and engine management systems. Long-time Detroit supplier Eaton developed a new generation of Roots-type superchargers that were compact and efficient, and which were also designed with an internal bypass to allow inlet air to go around the supercharger’s rotors during un-boosted operation. This was key to OE compliance, and soon these units were in use on Ford and GM V-6 applications.

The aftermarket took notice of the Eaton design and began creating new units to retrofit to performance applications. One of the latest companies to make good use of the Eaton design is Edelbrock, which has developed a line of complete supercharger systems under the E-Force banner. The systems use an Eaton Twin Vortices Series (TVS) Gen VI rotor assembly, the same arrangement GM uses in the ZR1 Corvette, along with an air-to-water twin intercooler and a dual-core heat exchanger. The housing/manifold uses 12-inch-long runners to optimize torque and the internal bypass feature is maintained for part-throttle drivability and economy. Kits include 52lb/hr injectors and a hand-held programmer, and an EO number is pending that would make the kits 50-state legal.

One of the newest applications of the E-Force Supercharger Systems is the C6 Corvette, and one of the touted features of the kit is that it will fit under the stock hood, even clearing the factory hood liner. Edelbrock says the kit, when used with the included high-volume fuel pump, can produce up to 599hp and 547ft/lbs of torque at the flywheel from an otherwise stock LS3 Corvette.

We actually had an opportunity to check out one of these kits installed on a new Corvette Grand Sport that had been assembled by Redline Motorsports of Schenectady, New York, in conjunction with the DeNooyer Performance Division of DeNooyer Chevrolet of Albany. As promised, the kit fit neatly under the hood, and with the hood down and the engine running, you’d never know it was there – there isn’t any whine. Get in and start driving with a light foot and you still might not detect the blower, but roll into it even just a little bit and the E-Force makes itself known. Torque is massive, and happens right away, even in the low rpm range, and if you stay in the throttle, the engine will pull with intense, linear force straight up the tach until you slam into the rev limiter – there’s no indication that power is leveling off until the computer steps in and taps you on the shoulder. Redline let us know that this car was running one of their upgraded camshafts, but it was also still using stock exhaust manifolds.

The E-Force System fits neatly under the stock hood, as illustrated by the DeNooyer/Redline Grand Sport.

We’ll be running a piece on the DeNooyer/Redline Grand Sport in an upcoming issue of Hemmings Muscle Machines, so keep an eye out for that.

Sean Murphy Induction is producing reconditioned Q-Jets that look new and are tuned to the razor’s edge.

It’s been maligned regularly since its introduction in the mid-to-late ’60s, but even the naysayers know that the Rochester Quadrajet is probably one of the most reliable and versatile four-barrel vacuum-secondary carburetors ever produced. Few designs have ever managed to combine highly efficient cruise operation with the performance that comes from 800cfm worth of wide-open-throttle roar, but that’s the beauty of the spread-bore design. Sadly, these once common carbs seem to have gone out of production ever since Edelbrock discontinued its line of Performer RPM Q-Jets a couple years back.

The good news is that there are still specialists keeping the Q-Jet’s flame burning by offering reconditioned units that appear and function as new. Sean Murphy Induction (SMI) is one such outlet, producing reconditioned Q-Jets (and other performance carburetors). The Quadzilla is the ultimate Q-Jet from SMI, and features all of the company’s rebuilding benefits along with additional performance capability. SMI starts with hand-picked cores that are stripped, glass-beaded, and treated to fresh dichromate coating to restore the familiar gold finish. All hardware is cadmium plated and throttle-shaft bores are bushed to eliminate potential vacuum leaks. The Quadzilla models can be built from 750 to 900cfm, and feature a .150-inch needle and seat to increase fuel flow along with reworked main wells to increase fuel capacity for high-rpm operation. Idle and off-idle circuits can be modified to handle low-vacuum idle conditions caused by high-overlap camshafts, and the secondary pull-over circuits are modified to eliminate the potential for bogging. All “soft” parts are made to be compatible with the alcohol content of today’s fuels, as well.

These are just the highlights of the Quadzilla program at SMI. For more details on the features and available options, go to www.smicraburetor.com.

(This post originally appeared in the July 3, 2008, issue of the Hemmings eWeekly Newsletter.)

Edelbrock has released fuel system kits using braided hose and A-N fittings.

If you’re setting up your car for competition, or think racing may be in the cards down the line, you should think about ridding your fuel system of rubber hose. Many sanctioning bodies frown on it and restrict its use, and even the OEs tried to use as much hardline as possible on the old carbureted low-pressure systems. Even if you just want to re-plumb your fuel system in A-N line for the appearance benefits, you’ll quickly find that ordering up all the correct fittings and other bits is trickier than you might anticipate. It only gets more complicated if an electric fuel pump is part of the plan.

Edelbrock has addressed this and created several fuel system kits using braided hose and A-N fittings from the Russell line and adding an Edelbrock electric fuel pump and regulator. The kits for basic carbureted engines include a relay and wiring for the fuel pump, as well as rubber-lined clamps to run the lines. You’ll get 20 feet of hose, in either Russell ProClassic (stainless braid) or ProFlex (black fabric braid) and your choice of red and blue fittings or black and silver.

Kits are offered for Edelbrock dual-feed AVS carburetors as well as Holley and Demon dual-feed applications. There are also kits for EFI systems, with applications for GM LS1 engines and Ford 5.0-liter.

(This post originally appeared in the May 8, 2008, issue of the Hemmings eWeekly Newsletter.)

Edelbrock has added the W engine to its lineup of Performer RPM aluminum cylinder heads.

The new heads retain factory dimensions and port locations and are considered a bolt-on replacement. However, the port design has been greatly improved and now provides 220cc of volume on the intake side.
The valves measure 2.19/1.72-inch, intake/exhaust respectively, and the heads feature screw-in studs as well as hardened guide-plates and spring cups. Edelbrock offers the 348/409 heads bare under part number 60809 or complete under 60819.

Go to www.edelbrock.com to learn more, and to see the dual-quad intake and retro-style finned aluminum valve covers also available for the W-series engines.

(This post originally appeared in the December 13, 2007, issue of the Hemmings eWeekly Newsletter.)

Try squeezing all the juice from a “fringe” engine, and you’ll soon find out why it’s that much more challenging. In the case of Buick muscle fans, the top-of-the-heap engine has been out of production for over 30 years now, and even back in the day, it wasn’t highly serviced by the aftermarket. But those who appreciate this engine family know how good it was at making torque, they know that it was one of the lightest big-blocks made, and they probably know that you can still find a good Buick 455 core at a reasonable price.

Interest has remained fairly positive in the big Buicks and, in recent years more hard parts have hit the market for them, including aluminum cylinder heads, though many of those items have been aimed at the serious drag racer. But the street set is strong among the Flint faithful, and Edelbrock has heard their cries to reinstate a once popular offering: the B-4B manifold.

Back in the mid-to-late 1960s, Edelbrock developed a line of dual-plane aluminum intake manifolds for popular V-8s to cater to the street/strip market. These intakes were generally intended to fit under stock hoods and accept factory brackets and plumbing, but offered enhanced runner design to improve performance. The B-4B (Buick-4-barrel) was among them, and remained a popular swap meet item long after Edelbrock discontinued it, since the only other common choice for Buick big-block dual-planes has been the Edelbrock Performer 455, though Edelbrock considers it a replacement manifold, at least inasmuch as it is based on a factory manifold, like all the manifolds in the Performer line.

The Performer 455 is intended to work in the same idle-to-5,500-rpm range as the B-4B, but since many veteran Buick guys have long felt that the B-4B offered an advantage over the Performer, it has been resurrected. The only real difference between the new version and the one produced years ago is the addition of Edelbrock’s Performer-style carb flange, which will accept a spread-bore (Quadrajet-type) or square-bore carburetor. The reissue is listed under part number 2515, and does not come with EGR provisions.

Need more performance for your Buick? Check out the new Performer RPM aluminum cylinder heads for Buick at www.edelbrock.com.

(This post originally appeared in the October 11, 2007, issue of the Hemmings eWeekly Newsletter.)

Edelbrock now offers a dual-quad intake for Chevrolet Vortec-style heads

Continuing to further its ever-expanding line of performance intake manifolds, Edelbrock has recently developed dual-quad (two four-barrel carburetors) manifolds to fit Chevrolet Vortec-style cylinder heads. Actually, the company has developed more than one.

The first is a revamp of the classic C-26 low-rise design, which works well with low-hood-clearance applications. This design includes the oil-tube boss as found on earlier small-blocks, and also the air conditioning bosses, but it does not accept later-model alternator brackets. The C-26 Vortec is ready to mount to 1996-up GM Vortec heads or Edelbrock’s own E-Tec aluminum heads.

Continuing with the dual-quad motif, Edelbrock developed the all-new RPM Air-Gap Dual-Quad, which utilizes the Air-Gap design to isolate the plenum and runners from the lifter valley to help keep engine heat out of the intake charge. This manifold is 1-5/8-inch taller than the C-26, but also allows enhanced engine breathing all the way to 6,500-rpm. The RPM Air-Gap Dual-Quad is offered in standard cast finish, polished finish, or with Edelbrock’s Endurashine coating, which provides the appearance of chrome.

Edelbrock is offering its own line of electric fuel pumps
photo courtesy Edelbrock

Long known for induction-system components, Edelbrock previously had to rely on fuel pumps from outside sources when high-volume electric units were required. Edelbrock has now applied its systems approach to fuel delivery and developed its own electric pumps to fill the remaining void in the catalog.

Rather than simply offering its own version of typical electric pumps, Edelbrock paired with Essex Industries, an outfit that makes fuel system components for the B-2 Stealth Bomber and other aircraft, to come up with an improved design. The obvious difference between the resulting pumps and typical aftermarket units are the billet aluminum housings, but the real benefits are located inside. That’s where the lightweight, precision-machined carbon-fiber vane is hidden, producing accurate repeatable output with excellent durability.

Less centrifugal force is generated, thanks to carbon fiber’s reduced weight, which in turn reduces internal friction and wear, and eliminates the possibility of metal particles being released into the fuel. Similarly, the rotors are formed from precision-molded composite material. The machining tolerances for the metal parts, like the race and motor shafts, are extremely tight, increasing the pump’s life while reducing operating noise.

Part number 1791 is preset to provide 6.5 p.s.i. without a pressure regulator, delivering 120 gallons per hour; it’s good for up to 600 horsepower. The other version – #1792 – is preset to 12 p.s.i., but does require a regulator. It delivers 160 GPH and is considered sufficient for up to 1,000 hp.

(This post originally appeared in the May 10, 2007, issue of the Hemmings eWeekly Newsletter.)

Kauffman Racing Equipment now offers its own version of the Pontiac D-port head.
photo courtesy Kauffman Racing Equipment

Despite having been out of production since 1979, the Pontiac V-8 maintains a devout legion of performance enthusiasts. Their engine of choice was blessed with the availability of aluminum cylinder heads back in the mid-’90s, thanks to Edelbrock, but those castings are based on the vaunted Pontiac Ram Air IV design, produced in iron by GM for 1969-’70. They perform well, but mandate corresponding exhaust manifolds or headers to mate with the “round-port” exhaust flange, reserved for the highest performing Pontiac engines rather than the more typical D-port exhaust configuration.
Seeing the need for a direct bolt-on solution for Pontiacs, Kauffman Racing Equipment (KRE) now offers its own version of the Pontiac cylinder head in aluminum, but patterned after the traditional D-port exhaust flange. Yet despite having the more pedestrian configuration, the Kauffman heads utilize multiple advantages that allow them to provide significant power gains over stock Pontiac iron heads, performing on par with modified round-port heads.

The Kauffman D-ports can be purchased bare or as complete assemblies, fitted with Ferrea 2.11/1.66-inch stainless valves (1.77-inch exhaust valves available); the castings were also designed to provide clearance for 1.65:1 roller rockers without grinding. One of the areas where these heads make use of current technology is the combustion chambers, which are heart-shaped with slightly altered spark-plug positioning to provide a faster, more complete burn. Castings are offered with 65cc, 74cc, or 85cc chamber volumes, and the 5/8-inch deck leaves room for milling.
In “out-of-the-box” form, the Kauffman D-ports should flow about 260-270cfm on the intake side and 210-220cfm on the exhaust. The castings have plenty of extra material to allow for porting, and Kauffman offers CNC-ported versions of the 74cc and 85cc heads. The heads weigh just less than half of a factory iron head, and the cost is not much more than a set of fully reworked factory heads. To learn more and check out more of KRE’s Pontiac performance parts offerings (including its brand-new aluminum timing covers), go to www.krepower.com.

(This post originally appeared in the April 19, 2007, issue of the Hemmings eWeekly Newsletter.)